There's a pretty good schedule of bouts coming up, all of which we'll be covering here at Bad Left Hook. A quick glance at what's on tap:
February 10 - HBO
Shane Mosley v. Luis Collazo
Vivian Harris v. Juan Lazcano
We'll be previewing this card this week, and it'll be good to see Sugar Shane in the ring again.
February 17 - HBO
Paulie Malignaggi v. Edner Cherry
Ishe Smith v. Sechew Powell
Andre Berto v. Ben Tackie
Berto takes on the veteran Tackie in hopes of progressing his HBO name, Powell and Smith fight for the right to stay on HBO, and Malignaggi returns to the ring against Edner Cherry. Should be a superb BAD card.
March 3 - Showtime
Israel Vazquez v. Rafael Marquez
Vic Darchinyan v. Victor Burgos
Darchinyan is an exciting fighter, and Burgos is no pushover. But Vazquez/Marquez is my most anticipated fight of the year, and I don't think there's any way outside of an injury that this fight won't be a barnburner.
March 3 - HBO
Miguel Cotto v. Oktay Urkal
Edison Miranda v. Allan Green
Cotto/Urkal is a total mandatory, and Cotto should slaughter his opponent. Green is stepping down in weight to fight the devastating Miranda. This is going to rightly be marketed as a night of destructive punchers showcasing their power. There's a good chance it'll work out that way, too, setting up Cotto/Margarito and Miranda/Pavlik.
March 10 - HBO
Wladimir Klitschko v. Ray Austin
Shannon Briggs v. Sultan Ibragimov
This is such a cool concept, showing the Klitschko/Austin fight from Germany at 5pm eastern and the Briggs/Ibragimov fight from New York City at 10. Austin is bigger and stronger than Byrd and Brock, so there's still some questions about this Klitschko fight, even though on paper this is nothing more than a mandatory walkover, and if Wlad fights like he can, it should be. Briggs is such a soft champion that even a powder puff like Ibragimov could beat him.
March 17 - HBO PPV
Marco Antonio Barrera v. Juan Manuel Marquez
Irene Pacheco v. Jhonny Gonzalez
Daniel Ponce de Leon v. Gerry Penalosa
Mike Arnaoutis v. Kendall Holt
Demetrius Hopkins v. Steve Forbes
Those last four fights I've only seen at boxrec.com, which is only moderately trustworthy, but that would be a fun St. Patrick's Night card. Either way, Barrera/Marquez is good enough to sell this card to me. Plus I'd rather watch boxing and drink beer than party with college kids and drink beer. But all of those moderately trustworthy undercard matchups are interesting enough that I would watch them.